Lego Movie PosterPosters LegoFan PostersThe Lego MovieLego Movie QuotesLego ThelegomovieLegos Legos LegosLego BulletinLego ClassroomForwardEverything is Awesome - Saw the lego movie and will commence song stuck in head mode. Super cute movie tho The Lego Movie was officially released four days ago in Australia. I have been hanging out to take the boys to see it because they are huge fans I am a huge fan of the toy. All the way through it I was thinking about whether I was going to write about it and if so, what I would be writing about, and for most of the movie I pretty much had the working title “Lego Movie – Best. Ever.” in mind, but towards the end of the movie, that changed. Now I am going to declare this because it has only been out for four and a half days in Australia and most of my readers are in this country; if you haven’t yet seen it, SPOILER ALERT. Our boys are 5-years-old and three-months-short-of-3-years-old (is that how you write it?) and both love Lego even though most of the sets they play with are labelled as 5-12 (years old) or even 8-14.
In fact, I just looked at a box sitting on the counter and notice the sad baby face “not for 0-3 year olds” logo on the box. Okay, so the toddler does love to chew on a few pieces, but roughage is good for him right? My wife has been on a course for work since Wednesday and it continued up until late Sunday afternoon. She’s been leaving real early and getting home fairly late because the course is being held at a location that’s about an hour away. When our first born was showing signs of being a movie addict at a reasonably young age, my wife and I thought it would be a great bonding exercise for me to take him to the cinema. She stayed home because our youngest was only a baby and therefore having many day sleeps if not sleeping the whole day away. Even though the toddler still isn’t a sit-there-and-watch-the-whole-DVD kind of kid, for the last two movies that Master 5 wanted to see – Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Frozen – we went as a whole family because my wife wanted to see them too.
During both of these movies the toddler needed to go to the toilet so she did the valiant duty and took him so that I could watch the whole movie having missed the scene in Rise of the Guardians where Jack Frost found out who he really was due to the older one needing to “do a wee Daddy…” But, because she was doing that course, and because I promised the boys they could see it the first weekend it was out, she wasn’t able to come with us. As a back-up plan in the event that the toddler needed to visit the toilet during the movie, and so that Master 5 wouldn’t miss any of it, I invited a friend and his kids along. The movie is 100 minutes long, or as described on the website, 1 hour and 40 minutes. I remember when all movies were 90 minutes long. There was the occasional 88 minute movie or 91 minute movie (sack that editor), but all-in-all most movies ran for exactly 1-and-a-half hours. At about the 40 minute mark the toddler, getting restless, decided it was time to fall asleep.
I didn’t mind, after all, I didn’t have to pay for him to see the movie because he is under 4-years-old. And really, I thought it was a blessing because he generally sleeps for two hours during his day nap which meant that I would be able to watch the whole movie unless Master 5 needed to go (although he’s a trooper and would hold on if it meant not missing a second of the movie). And this is where my problem with the Lego Movie kicks in. At the 90 minute mark, the point where all those other movies would have ended, the climax to the movie, the bit with the reveal, the part where the penny drops, that’s when the toddler wakes up, stands up on his chair and then leans over and in my ear proclaims; “I need to do a wee Daddy…” And when he says I need to do a wee, he means that he needs to do a wee. I might get a few minutes out of him holding on if we’re in the car when the feeling comes on, but any longer than that and he’s resorting back to wetting himself.
Now I could have been a crap dad. I could have simply told him to sit back down as we’ve only got 10 minutes to go, but no, I picked him up and ran for it. The distance to the toilet was maybe about 100 metres, and I reckon, even though I had a toddler in my arms, I would have taken Usain Bolt’s record and smashed it. But then, the toddler took forever to finish up. I could have run that 100 metres in sub-8 seconds, and all the good that would have done me. When he finally finished, I washed his hands and mine (new Olympic record for that too) and then ran back as fast as I could. We got back to see the last three minutes or so. But that scene, the one where the tears would have fallen if you were the type to shed a tear, that moment when the boy and his dad had that moment, that connection, the start of their journey together in the world of playing Lego together and using their collective imaginations, we missed it. And because I don’t know exactly how that scene went down.
Because I missed half a percent of the movie, that to me was enough to skew my full judgement and make me ineligible to cast my vote. So best movie ever? At the very least, it is the best ever movie about a toy that has given me over 30 years of joy (and counting), and is destined to repeat this with our boys. Have you seen the movie? What did you think? Truthfully, I loved it more than I thought I would. ‹ Why Should You Donate To This Charity?The Reasons Why Child Abuse is an Issue For Men ›CHICAGO (Christian Examiner) – Nate is an energetic, creative little boy who wants a sibling – specifically, a brother – so he can have a playmate. His parents, though, are workaholic realtors who can't fathom a household with two children. But Nate has a grand idea. He will send a handwritten letter to the storks, who live far, far away on Stork Mountain, and they will bring him a brother. There's one big problem: The storks are no longer in the baby business. (Yes, they once were.)
-, and they deliver packages – such as TV sets. Fear not, though, because the letter ends up in the hands of a clueless company worker, who accidentally turns on the non-operational baby-making machine, popping out a sweet little bundle of joy. So far, so good, but the CEO of Cornerstone, Hunter (Kelsey Grammer) vows to stop the delivery, and a pack of wolves wants the baby, too. It's all part of the plot in Storks (PG), which opens in theaters this weekend and was created by the same studio (Warner Bros. Animation) that gave us The Lego Movie, which was No. 1 for three weeks in 2014 and ended with an incredible $257 million domestic gross. I really liked The Lego Movie, but I enjoyed Storks even more. Storks is funnier, has a better storyline, and also has more life lessons for children and parents. ) is one of the film's partners. But is Storks OK for all children, including small kids? Let's take a look. REVIEW: 'To Joey, With Love' is gut-wrenching, hope-filled, God-centeredREVIEW: Is 'Sully' family-friendly?
(And is it too scary for kids?)REVIEW: Is 'Kubo' too scary for small kids? (And will they have nightmares?)REVIEW: Is 'Pete's Dragon' OK for small children? (And just how scary is it?) Storks celebrates the gift of life and babies, from beginning to end. Nate (Anton Starkman) wants a baby brother so much that eventually, his parents get on board. Meanwhile, the film's supposed villains – including a huge pack of wolves -- go from wanting to eat the baby to wanting to protect it and keep it. They, too, have that "awwww" moment each time it giggles. By movie's end, the baby-making machine is working full-time again – and everyone is celebrating. Nate's mom and dad (Jennifer Aniston, Ty Burrell) begin the film as workaholics (they work at home and wear headsets, and groan each time they have to play with Nate), but soon they see their errors and join him on a massive project to build a stork-baby-delivery chute. In a society that is obsessed by work and often views babies as inconveniences, it's nice to see a major movie preach the right message.
Storks is incredibly funny – so much so that I was laughing even more than my son was. Storks has no major language issues. The worst we hear is a few instances of "oh my gosh" and a "screw-up," "stupid" and "suck it." The so-called scary scenes would bother only very sensitive children. The wolves appear ready to eat the newly created baby, but within seconds are laughing at it and announcing they're going to raise it. Another supposed villain, Jasper, looks scary a couple of times, but ends up being friendly. The creators of Storks did tip their hat to the LGBT community, although the scene is even more brief than the alleged lesbian scene in Finding Dory. The Storks scene takes place in the film's final minutes, as we watch a rapid sequence involving babies in the arms of different parents. Most of the couples include a man and a woman, but we also see two women, and moments later two men. It's so quick that it's easy to miss (it might last a fifth of a second – if that).
The scene was not a deal-breaker to me, although it might bother some conservative families. Storks is a film that provides "thought food" for everyone. Parents can ask: Do we have the right balance between work and play in our home? What are we teaching our kids about priorities and family-life? Are we missing out on moments we will never recover – and will we later have regrets? For children, there are the normal lessons about teamwork but there's also a big one for children who have siblings: Do they really appreciate their brother or sister – and do they realize that not every child has one? Perhaps families also should discuss: Where do babies come from? The thought that they come from storks when mommy's tummy is growing sounds crazy, but the real answer we need to feed our children is this: They come from God. Finally, the movie touches on the issue of adoption in a way that will impact families differently. The "clueless worker" referenced above is a teen girl named Tulip (Katie Crown), who is the only human worker at Cornerstone.
She never was delivered to her parents as a baby due to a mishap, and so she was raised by storks. She subsequently built a plane to find her "real parents," and by movie's end, she does reunite with them. (At one point earlier in the film she is called "Orphan Tulip." Also, she makes up for her mishaps by becoming the hero.) I am an adoptive father and was not troubled by the plot, but it is certainly one that is worth knowing about before you go. The Verdict: OK for Small Kids? Many moviegoers consider Finding Dory the animated movie of the year, but I'd put Storks in that discussion, too. I would take my 4-year-old children to watch Storks. The scary scenes are not intense, and they quickly turn positive. Entertainment rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Family-friendly rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Storks is rated PG for mild action and some thematic elements.Oh my gosh (4), screw-up (1), suck it (1) shut up (1) heck (1).The wolves never hit or bite anyone, although they do chase Tulip and her stork friend, who are carrying the baby (the wolves want to take care of it).